Personally carried card holder



Nov. 2, 1965 R R ETAL 3,214,852

PERSONALLY CARRIED CARD HOLDER Filed April 9, 1963 INVEN TOR. V

ROBERTM. FORD BY snwsrm c. Bfiamv ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofiice3,214,852 Patented Nov. 2, 1965 3,214,852 PERSONALLY CARRTED CARD HOLDERRobert M. Ford, 109 Loch Lomond Drive, Lexington, Ky., and Sylvester C.Brown, Lexington, Ky.; said Brown assignor to said Ford Filed Apr. 9,1963, Ser. No. 271,674 4 Claims. ((11. 40-21) This invention relates toa card holder, and more particularly, to a device that is adapted to beworn on the forearm of a football player for providing instructions tothe player.

Because of the various offensive and defensive patterns employed by eachfootball team, it is necessary for each team to adapt its offensive anddefensive patterns in accordance with the defensive and offensivepatterns, respectively, of the opponent. Since most schools, whichparticipate in football, schedule an opponent for each week, the amountof instruction period is substantially limited. In order to obtain themaximum from each instruction period, the availability to the player ofthe specific offensive and defensive patterns, which are to be employedagainst the forthcoming opponent, is particularly desirable. If theplayers should miss practice before the game, it would be desirable forhim to have knowledge of the offensive and defensive patterns, which areto be employed against the opponent, during the contest.

The present invention satisfactorily solves these problems by providinga card holder with instructions that may be readily worn on the forearmof the athlete. This device is constructed without any metallic membersor other injury-producing material so that it may be Worn by the athletewithout fear of injury to himself or to the other players.

An object of this invention is to provide a lightweight instructioncarrying holder for athletes, particularly football players, that may beworn both during practice and against opponents.

Another object of this invention is to provide a card carrying holderthat will utilize the maximum amount of available space forinstructions.

Other objects of this invention will be readily perceived from thefollowing description.

This invention relates to a personally carried card holder adapted to beworn on a persons forearm. The card holder includes two spaced-apartmembers with each of the members having a base and a top. The base isformed of a heavy plastic material and the top is formed of a flexibletransparent material. The top is substantially the same width as thebase. The top is secured to the base except along one edge whereby apocket is formed between the base and the top to hold an instructioncard or the like. A first elastic member connects one side of one of themembers and one side of the other of the members and a second elasticmember connects the other side of the one member and the other side ofthe other member. The first and second elastic members are disposedadjacent one end of the spaced-apart members and are of the same length.A third elastic member connects the one side of the one member and theone side of the other member and a fourth elastic member connects theother side of the one member and the other side of the other member. Thethird and fourth elastic members are disposed adjacent the other end ofthe spacedapart members and are of the same length. Each of the thirdand fourth elastic members is longer than each of the first and secondelastic members.

The attached drawing illustrates a preferred embodiment of theinvention, in which FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the card holder of thepresent invention without the card holder being completely joinedthrough the elastic members;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along the line of 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a broken away view of a portion of the card holder of thepresent invention; and

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the card holder of the presentinvention on the forearm of a person.

Referring to the drawing and particularly to FIGURE 1, there is shownthe card holder of the present invention including a pair of members 10and 11. One side of the member 10 is secured to one side of the member11 by elastic members 12 and 14. Elastic members 15 and 16 are attachedto the other side of member 10. Of course, the elastic members 15 and 16are connected to the other side of the member 11 in the final assemblyof the teaching device. While two elastic members have been showndisposed between the adjacent sides of the members 10 and 11, it shouldbe understood that only one elastic member could be employed if desiredprovided the single elastic member had the same strength as the twoelastic members.

Each of the members 10 and 11 includes a base 17 and a top 18. As shownin FIGURE 2, the base 17 is formed of two layers of a heavy vinylplastic material. Heavy plastic materials, which are sold under thetrademarks Versilan and Naugahyde, are two examples of the material forthe base 17. While two layers of heavy plastic material have been shown,it should be understood that a single layer may be employed if desired.The material of the base 17 must be flexible but still be capable ofpreventing any sweat of the wearer being transmitted through thematerial of the base 17. The material of the base 17 also must have theproperty of not having its size substantially affected by the athletessweat.

The top 18 is formed of a transparent flexible material such as a clear,lightweight vinyl plastic. The material should have exceptionally goodresistance to tearing when subjected to tension stresses. One example isa vinyl plastic, which is crystal clear polished, of 16 gauge thickness.

The top 18 is substantially the same width as the base 17. As shown inFIGURE 1, one of the ends of the top 13 terminates short of the end ofthe base 17. The other sides of the top 18 except for the edge, whichterminates short of the end of the base 17, are joined by stitches 19 tothe base 17. The stitches 19 also secure the layers of the plasticmaterial of the base 17 together. Furthermore, the stitches 19 hold theelastic members 12, 14, 15, and 16 to the members 10 and 11. The elasticmembers 12, 14, 15, and 16 preferably are connected by the stitches 19near their terminal ends.

As shown in FIGURE 1, the shortened end of the top 18 is not secured tothe base 17. Thus, an entrance is provided to a pocket 20 (see FIGURE2), which is formed between the base 17 and the top 18. The width of thepocket 20 is substantially the same as the width of the base 17 and thetop 18. It is slightly smaller because the pocket 20 is defined by thestitches 19. The length of the pocket 20 extends to substantially thebottom edge of the base 17 and the top 18.

The instructions, which are to be utilized by the athlete duringpractice or a game, are written on a card 25 such as a piece of paper orcardboard, for example, of substantially the same width as the pocket20. The instruction card 25 also is substantially the same length as thepocket 20. Thus, the maximum utilization of each of the members 10 and11 is obtained by the present in vention so that more instructions maybe employed.

The base 17 is preferably formed with four angled corners 21, 22, 23,and 24 (see FIGURE 1). The top 18 terminates adjacent the lower portionof the corners 23 and 24. The bottom portion of the top 18 has corners,which are the same as the corners 21 and 22 of the base 17.

As shown in FIGURE 4, the card holder has the entrance to the pocket 20facing towards the shoulder of the wearer. This prevents any accidentaldislodgement of the instruction card 25 from the pocket 20. If desired,the elastic members 12 and 15 could be of slightly greater distancebetween the members and 11 than the elastic members 14 and 16. Thiswould permit easier fitting of the teaching device to the forearm of theathlete.

An advantage of this invention is that no metallic members such asprotruding fasteners are employed so that the card holder may be wornduring a football contest without violating any of the equipment rules.Another advantage of this invention is that it prevents the instructioncard from becoming disfigured due to the sweat of the athlete. A furtheradvantage of this invention is that a maximum amount of instructions maybe carried by the card holder in comparison with the size of thecarrying member.

For purposes of exemplification, a particular embodirrnent of theinvention has been shown and described according to the best presentunderstanding thereof. However, it will be apparent that changes andmodifications in the arrangement and construction of the parts thereofmay be resorted to without departing from the true spirit and scope ofthe invention.

We claim:

1. A personally carried card holder adapted to be Worn on a personsforearm, said card holder including two spaced-apart members, each ofsaid members having a base and a top, said base being formed of a heavyplastic material, said top being formed of a flexible transparentmaterial, said top being substantially the same Width as said base, saidtop being secured to said base except along one edge whereby a pocket isformed between said base and said top to hold an instruction card or thelike, a first elastic member connecting one side of one of said membersand one side of the other of said members, a second elastic memberconnecting the other side of said one member and the other side of saidother member, said first and second elastic members being disposedadjacent one end of said members and being of the same length, a thirdelastic member connecting said one side of said one member and said oneside of said other member, a fourth elastic member connecting said otherside of said one member and said' other side of said other member, saidthird and fourth elastic members being disposed adjacent the other endof said members and being of the same length, each of said third andfourth elastic members being longer than each of said first and secondelastic members, and each of said elastic members having a length lessthan the width of each of said two spaced-apart members.

2. A personally carried card holder adapted to be worn on a personsforearm, saidcard holder including two spaced-apart members, each ofsaid members having a base and a top, said base being formed of twolayers of a heavy plastic material, said top being formed of afiexibletransparent material, said top being substantially the same width assaid. base, said top being secured to said base except along one edgewhereby a pocket is formed between said base and said top to hold aninstruction card or the like, a first elastic member connecting one sideof one of said members and one side of the other of said members, asecond elastic rmember connecting the other side of said one member andthe other side of said other member, said first and second elasticmembers being disposed adjacent one end of said members and being of thesame length, a third elastic member connecting said one side of said onemember and said one side of said other member, a fourth elastic memberconnecting said other side of said one membef and said other side ofsaidother member, said third and fourth elastic members being disposedadjacent the other end of said members and being of the same length,each of said third and fourth elastic members being longer than each ofsaid first and second elastic members, and each of said elastic membershaving a length less than the width of each of said two spacedapartmembers.

3. A personally carried card holder adapted to be worn on a personsforearm, said card holder including two spaced-apart members, each ofsaid members having a base and a top, said base being formed of twolayers of a heavy plastic material, said top being formed of a flexibletransparent material, said top being substantially the same width assaid base, stitching means securing said top to said base except alongone edge whereby a pocket is formed between said base and said top tohold an instruction card or the like, a first elastic member connectingone side of one of said members and one side of the other of saidmembers, a second elastic member connecting the other side of said onemember and the other side of said other member, said first and secondelastic members being disposed adjacent one end of said members andbeing of the same length, a third elastic member connecting said oneside of said one member and said one side of said other member, a fourthelastic member connecting said other side of said one member and saidother side of said other member, said third and fourth elastic membersbeing disposed adjacent the other end of said members and being of thesame length, each of said third and fourth elastic members being longerthan each of said first and second elastic members, and said stitchingmeans securing each of said elastic members to each of said twospacedapart members.

4. A personally carried card holder adapted to be worn on a personsforearm, said card holder including two spaced-apart members, each ofsaid members having a base and a top, said base being formed of twolayers of a heavy plastic material, said top being formed of a flexibletransparent material, said. top being substantially the same width assaid base, stitching means securing said top to said base except alongone edge whereby a pocket is formed between said base and said top tohold an instructi-on card or the like, a first elastic member connectingone side of one of said members and one side of the other of saidmembers, said first elastic member having one of its ends disposedbetween said two layers of heavy plastic. material of said one memberand the other of its ends disposed between said two layers of heavyplastic material of said other member, said stitching means on said onemember securing said one end of said first elastic member to said onemember, said stitching means on said other member securing said otherend of said first elastic member to said other member, a second elasticmember connecting the other side of said one member and the other sideof said other member, said second elastic member having one of its endsdisposed between said two layers of heavy plastic material of said onemember and the other of its ends disposed between said twolayers ofheavy plastic material of said other member, said stitching means onsaid one member securing said one end of said second elastic member tosaid one member, said stitching means on said other member securing saidother end of said second elastic member to said other member, said firstand second elastic members being disposed adjacent one end of saidmembers and being of the same length, a third elastic member connectingsaid one side of said one member and said one side of said other member,said third elastic member having one of its ends disposed between saidtwo layers of heavy plastic material of said one member and the other ofits ends disposed between said two layers of heavy plastic material ofsaid other member, said stitching means on said one member securing saidone end of said third elastic member to said one member, said stitchingmeans on said other member securing said other end of said third elasticmember to said other member, a fourth elastic member connecting saidother side of said one member and said other side of said other member,said fourth elastic member having one of its ends disposed between saidtwo layers of heavy plastic material of said one member and the other ofits ends disposed between said two layers of heavy plastic material ofsaid other member, said stitching means on said one member securing saidone end of said fourth elastic member to said one member, said stitchingmeans on said other member securing said other end of said fourthelastic member to said other member, said third and fourth elasticmembers being disposed adjacent the other end of said members and beingof the same length, and each of said third and fourth elastic membersbeing longer than each of said first and second elastic members.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,486,850 3/24Avery et al. 40-21 2,203,155 6/40 Iulien et a1. 40 21 2,378,755 6/45DoWling 40-21 2,925,675 2/60 Lumpkin 40l6 X 10 2,931,114 4/60 Peterson40 10 EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner.

JEROME SCHNALL, Examiner.

1. A PERSONALLY CARRIED CARD HOLDER ADAPTED TO BE WORN ON A PERSON''S FOREARM, SAID CARD HOLDER INCLUDINT TWO SPACED-APART MEMBERS, ERACH OF SAID MEMBERS HAVING A BASE ANS A TOP, SAID BSE BEING FORMED OF A HEAVY PLASTIC MATERIAL, SAID TOP BEING FORMED OF A FLEXIBLE TRANSPARENT MATERIAL, SAID TOP BEING SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME WIDTH AS SAID BASE, SAID TOP BEING SECURED TO SAID BASE EXCEPT ALONG ONE EDGE WHEREBY A POCKET IS FORMED BETWEEN SAID BASE AND SAID TOP TO HOLD AN INSTRUCTION CARD OR THE L IKE, A FIRST ELASTIC MEMBER CONNECTING ONE SIDE OF ONE OF SAID MEMBERS AND ONE SIDE OF THE OTHER OF SAID MEMBERS, A SECOND ELASTIC MEMBER CONNECTING THE OTHER SIDE OF SAID ONE MEMBER AND THE OTHER SIDE OF SAID OTHER MEMBER, SAID FIRST AND SECOND ELASTIC MEMBER BEING DISPOSED ADJACENT ONE END OF SAID MEMBERS AND BEING OF THE SAME LENGTH, A THIRD ELASTIC MEMBER CONNECTING SAID ONE SIDE OF SAID ONE MEMBER AND SAID ONE SIDE OF SAID OTHER MEMBER, A FOURTH ELASTIC MEMBER CONNECTING SAID OTHER SIDE OF SAID ONE MEMBER AND SAID OTHER SIDE OF SAID OTHER MEMBER, SAID THIRD AND FOURTH ELASTIC MEMBERS BEING DISPOSED ADJACENT THE OTHER END OF SAID MEMBERS AND BEING OF THE SAME LENGTH, EACH OF SAID THIRD AND FOURTH ELASTIC MEMBERS BEING LONGER THAN EACH OF SAID FIRST AND SECOND ELASTIC MEMBERS, AND EACH OF SAID ELASTIC MEMBERS HAVING A LENGTH LESS THAN THE WIDTH OF EACH OF SAID TWO SPACED-APART MEMBERS. 